- Critical Role’s animated series, “The Legend of Vox Machina,” is back for its third season.
- CR’s cofounders say they’re blown away by the international reception.
- CR has a list of places they’d like to take their show — and Singapore’s on it now, CEO Travis Willingham said.
Close to a decade ago, eight nerds started playing their “Dungeons & Dragons” game out of a studio in Los Angeles and live-streaming it on Twitch.
Now, that “D&D” game has been adapted into the Amazon-backed animated series The Legend of Vox Machina, which is back for its third season.
Apart from working on their Prime Video animation, the eight cast members of “Critical Role” now sell out arenas when they hold live shows. On a day-to-day basis, they run the company by the same name, with investments in an in-house game publishing arm and new audio dramas. But while most of their work remains stateside, they’re eyeing their international fans — as similar nerdworld businesses expand beyond their original countries.
During an interview with CEO Travis Willingham and his fellow cofounders, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, and Ashley Johnson, BI asked the group what they thought of watch parties for “The Legend of Vox Machina” being held in Singapore and other international locations.
“All of us know how important stories — and other people’s stories — have been to us, personally,” O’Brien told BI. “So to know that we’re in that position where we’ve created a story together that is now of such worth to people all over the planet is just such a gift.”
Now they have a wish list of locations their live shows could go to in the months and years to come, Willingham said. On that slate is South America and Australia, where they’ve seen their fan base grow. And now they’re putting Singapore on that “big list,” too.
“We’ll have a big old party,” Willingham added. “Tell us where we’re eating and drinking, we’ll throw down.”
Critical Role sold out its 2023 live show at London’s Wembley Arena. And more recently, they took their live show to the Greek in Los Angeles, their home ground. These shows — where a crew plays “D&D” in front of an audience — continue to draw crowds comparable to the biggest names in music. In January, CR’s peers, the Brennan Lee Mulligan-helmed “Dimension 20,” are playing Madison Square Garden in New York.
10,000 miles from Los Angeles, a beacon of Critical Role fandom
At the TableMinis gaming store in Singapore — a world away from Los Angeles — over a dozen CR fans piled into the venue’s lounge to watch the new season of “Vox Machina” together.
Farez Najid, who co-owns TableMinis, said he started playing “D&D” years ago because of CR.
“CR opened up our minds to the idea that this game of ‘D&D’ is more than just something you play in a basement — it’s a lifestyle now,” Farez told BI. “People are coming together to see a story unfold, and they’re attached to the characters.”
He added that CR — and game master Matthew Mercer — inspired him to start his own gaming business. He now makes a living game-mastering “D&D” games for playgroups.
The second tranche of “The Legend of Vox Machina” is now here. Episodes are being released weekly on Prime Video in sets of three. In this week’s release, Vox Machina battles a dragon (voiced by O’Brien) and contends with the demon Zerxus Ilerez. And as the season hits its midpoint, cast members Laura Bailey and Taliesin Jaffe’s characters, Vex’ahlia and Percy, fall deeper in love.
The second tranche’s episodes contain major campaign moments — like the half-elf Vax’ildan’s (also voiced by O’Brien) hot tub heart-to-heart talks with Percy.
Getting to revisit the hot tub scene, a highlight of CR’s first “D&D” campaign, was “so great” and a “beautiful” point of the season, Bailey said.
“Vex and Percy’s relationship is one of my favorite things about Campaign One,” Bailey told BI. “I loved all of the really intimate moments. I loved all the really tragic moments. It was horrible and wonderful to get to go down that path again.”
Ephraim Chua, 32, told BI he’s excited to see how CR has adapted its main campaigns for the animated series. Bhavna Vasnani, 34, is looking forward to seeing the crew’s epic battle with the dragon Raishan.
CR’s Johnson, a BAFTA-winning voice actor, told BI she thought international watch parties and other events were a wonderful way to “connect with the world.”
Willingham told BI that when it comes to CR’s content, “there’s a seat for everybody at the table.”
“Everybody can make their own adventures and find their own groups as well,” Willingham said. “And if we’ve had a hand in helping that along the way, we’re all the more thrilled for it.”
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